Page 332 of Marcello

That’s when I heard a woman’s high-pitched scream.

I immediately pulled my pistol.

I heard Scurtone’s angry voice in the darkness. “Fuckin’ bitch – STOP IT!”

Slap!

The scream turned into a sob –

And my blood hit the boiling point in one second flat.

“Scurtone!” I yelled as I reached the hole.

Two figures were approaching me on the other side of the ruined wall.

The male wore a pair of the night vision goggles we’d used to attack the Amato compound, and he was dragging a woman along the ground by her arm.

Giulietta!

My heart leapt to see her alive –

And then ached to see her filthy, tear-streaked, terrified face.

Scurtone held up his hand against the light of my phone. “Romeo?! What the fuck’re you doin’ back here?”

I heard Giulietta’s anguished gasp when she heard my name.

“I came to help,” I said as I squeezed through the gap.

“I don’t need any help,” Scurtone sneered, then looked down at Giulietta. “This little bitch ain’t gonna give me any more problems – are you?”

“Maybe not,” I said, “but I will.”

As Scurtone looked back at me in confusion, I put my gun under his jaw –

Aimed straight up into his skull –

And pulled the trigger.

BLAM!

118

Lars

Inside The Well

By the time I got to the top of the well, sweat was pouring down my face. My legs burned like fire, and my back ached –

But I had made it. My head was right beneath the well cover.

I was just about to try lifting it when I heard a distant blam!

I immediately froze.

“What was that?” Niccolo whispered far below me.

“A diversion,” I murmured.